Conveyer



March 7, 1933. KELLER ET AL 1,900,563

CONVEYER Filed April 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l 62 F' .J. M 62 {a g 3/ 43a 36 a Inventors. M m 2G Henry Cilfellen Jfa nar VanBjZ/iard.

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Mafch 7, 1933. H. c. KELLER ET AL 1,900,563

CONVEYER Filed April 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 7, 1933UNETEE STATES HENRY C. KELLER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, AND MAYNARD VANBILLIARD, 0F

EHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOBS TO THE LAIMSON COMPANY, OF SYRA-CUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS GONVEYER Applicationfiled April 22,

This invention relates to an improvement in conveyers and moreparticularly to the provision of means for delivering to a. mainconveyer a plurality of load units supplied by several branch conveyers.

Theprimary object'of the invention is to provide means which insuresthat the load units delivered to the main conveyer by each branchconveyer are spaced a predetermined distance apart to permit thedelivery to the main conveyer of load units from other branch conveyerswithout danger of 00111- sion. A further object of the invention is toprovide means associated with each branch eonve er for stopping atregular intervals the travel of the load units fed thereby, such meansbeing controlled by mechanism so that they function alternatively,whereby the load unit on one branch conveyer only travels and the uniton the other branch conveyers are at rest.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conveyer comprising twoarticle transporting sections and a movable section nterposed betweenthe first two whichsection in one position receives a predetermlned loadunit from one section and in another position delivers such load unit tothe other section in combination with a stop associated with the movablesection and movable relativethereto and means for actuating the movablesection and stop. Other objects of the invention will appear from anexamination of the following specification and of the drawings whichform a part thereof wherein one embodiment of this invention is setforth for purpose of illustration. The embodiment of the inventionselected for illustration comprises two branch conveyers by which boxesare delivered to a main conveyor but it will be understood that thenumber of branch conveyers maybe changed and that the illustratedembodiment may be altered in various respects without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter described.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a. plan view of such embodiment;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the free to travel.

1930. Serial No. 446,231.

branch conveyers taken along the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are side elevations of certain elements of one of thebranch 'conveyers, said elements being shown in Fig. 3 with the loadunits at rest, and in Fig. 4 with one load unit 7 .This inventionembodies broadly a main conveyer A and a pair of branchconveyers B and Cby which boxes are delivered to the main conveyer. The conveyer A may beof any desired type and is here shown as a belt conveyer- Which travelsin either direction as indicated by the double-headed arrow on Fig. 1.The belt 10 of the selected main conveyer passes over a plurality ofrollers 11 in the usual manner and is driven by a motor or othersuitable source of supply (not shown). Side walls 12 and 13 are providedbetween which the conveyer belt 10 passes.

The side Wall 12 comprises a suitably sup ported angle bar on the flange14 of which one edge of the belt 10 travels. The edge of the belt 10adjacent the branch conveyers travels over the flange 15 of a suitablysupported angle bar 16. The side wall 13 is made in sections which alsoact as side walls for the branchjconveyers B and C (see Fig. 1).

The branch conveyers B and G are similar in construction and differ fromeach other merely by reason of the fact that they are intended to handleboxes of diflerent izes. Each branch conveyer embodies a belt sec- .tiona movable section and an inclined'seca gear reduction mechanism 29 sothat the travel of the belts 20 in both branch conveyers is-at a uniformrate. I V

The movable conveyer section 30 comprises aplurality ofrotatablysupported rollers v31 carried by flange side bars 32. The

bars 32 are suitably connected and pivotally mounted upon stud shafts 33at their forward ends and rest upon cams 34 carried by a shaft 35. heshaft 35 is preferably made in two sections connected by a universaljoint 36 and is driven from the conveyer.

roller 22 in the following manner. Mounted upon one end of the shaft 37which carries the roller 22 of branch conveyer B is a pinion 38 whichmeshes with a gear wheel 39 fixed at one end of a shaft 40 suitablysupported in the frame below and parallel to the shaft 37, and having atits other end a pulley 41 which, through a belt 42, drives a pulley 43mounted on the end of the shaft 35. It will be noted that while theshaft 35 is made in two sections the connection 36 insures their uniformrotation. The cams 34 are so positioned upon the shaft 35 that movablesection of the other conveyer is.

lowered. Thus, the positions shown in Figs. 2 and 4 take placesimultaneously. Interposed between the movable section 30 and the beltsection is a stop 45 formed by one end of a strap 46. The other end 47of the strap is fixed upon a roclr shaft 48 mounted in bearings 49carried by the frame 50 on which the section 30 is supported. The shaft48 is preferably rectangular in cross section except at the ends whereit is cylindrical and is supported in the bearings 49. The end 47 of thestrap 46 may be bent around the rectangular section of the shaft 48 andsecured by a set screw 51. The shaft 48 is rocked by'and in unison withthe movable section by an arm 52 fixed at one end to the shaft andhaving at its other end a slot 53 which receives the end of a cross rod54 carried by the side rails 32.

The boxes are fed onto the movable section 30 by an inclined section 60.This section preferably acts through the force of gravity to advance thebones and may be of any desired type. As here shown the sec tioncomprises suitably supported. flanged rails 61 which carry freelyrotatable rollers 62 and side rails 63. The sections 60 may be of anydesired length and the boxes be delivered thereto in any well knownmanner. It will be apparent that when the movable section 30 is raisedas shown in Fig. 4 the free end thereof will prevent the travel of anyboxes from the section 60 and thus functions as a stop. The movablesection 30 is of such length that it will support at one time onlyone-box.

The operation of the branch conveyors will now be described with partiular reference to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings wherein the movablesection 30 and stop 45 of the branch conveyer C are shown in the twoextreme, positions which they are caused to occupy by the rotation ofthe shaft 35. As shown in Fig. 3 when the section 30 isin the plane ofthe belt 20 the stop 45 projects into the path of travel of the box 65and holds it upon the section 30. As the shaft 35 is rotated, however,the cams 34 raise the section 30 011 its pivot pins 33 and at the sametime through the action of the arm 52 and shaft 48 the stop 45 will belowered so that the box 65 on the section 30 which has been checked bythe stop 45 will now be released and allowed to slide onto the belt 20.The section 30 in its raised position, (see Fig. 4) acts as a gravityconveyer and the box supported thereon advances without furtherattention to the belt 20. The free end of the movable section, however,eXtends into the way of any boxes which may be passing down the inclined section 60 and stops their progress. /Vhen'thesection 30 returnsto the 3 position, the boxes on the section 60 are then free to advanceonto the section 30 until the leading box comes into contact with thestop 45. The cams controlling the section 30 of the branch conveyer Bare arranged diametrically with respect to the cams 34 which control thesection 30 of the conveyer C. As a result, when the section 30 of oneconveyer is raised and its box passed to the belt 20, the section 30 ofthe other conveyer is receiving its box and at the same time the stop 45of the first conveyer will be inoperative to permit the box to passwhile the stop 45 of the other conveyer will be operative to check thebox on the section 30.

One purpose of this invention is to provide an article transportingconveyer to which articles may be supplied in convenient amounts withthe assurance that they will be delivered at intervals eitherindividually or in groups of any predetermined number. Thus the articlesmay be delivered onto the inclined section 60 but by the operation ofthe movable section 30 and the stop 45 they will be automaticallyseparated and be delivered from i the conveyer by the belt 20 atregularly spaced The broad advantages flowing intervals. from thisconstruction whereby a regular supply of articles of any size ordimensions is assured without the necessity of any handling afterthearticles are first fed into the conveyer are obvious and need not beparticularly specified.

Another purpose of this construction resides in the feeding of the loadunits to the main conveyer A and in view of the construction justdescribed it will be obvious that the units from each branch conveyeradvance at regular intervals to the main conveyer and consequently whendelivered onto the main conveyer are at a predetermined distance apart.Furthermore it will be apparent that ered by the belt 20 of the otherbranch conveyer. The operation of these conveyers is so timed that eachunit delivered by the second acting branch conveyer enters'the mainconveyer at the space provided between the units delivered by the firstacting branch conveyor, and there is no danger of any collision whichwould interfere in any way with the operation of the main conveyer.

While the conveyers of the illustratedembodiment are intended to handleboxes of different sizes it will be understood that this invention isnot limited thereto and consequently in the claims the term load unitshas been employed to designate the articles delivered by the branchconveyers which articles may be supplied either singly or in grou s.

It will be understood that the particular type of conveyers shown anddescribed as A, B and C were merely selected for the purpose ofillustration and that other types of conveyers could be substitutedtherefor without independent of the main conveyer for operating thebranch conveyers and means actuated seriatlm by said first named meansfor regulating the feeding operations of the branch conveyers whichmeans includes a movable section of each branch conveyer, and means forshifting said sections alternately out of position and thereby stoppingthe feeding operations.

2. The combination with a main conveyer of a pair of branch conveyers bywhich load units are fed onto the main conveyer, means independent ofthe main conveyer for operating the branch conveyers and means ac-'tuated seriatim by said first named means for regulating the feedingoperations of the branch conveyers which means includes a movablesection of each branch conveyer, a movable stop associated witheachsection and means for shifting the section and stop of each conveyerconcomitantly and alternately with the section and stop of the otherconveyer.

3. The combination with a main conveyer of a pair of branch conveyers bywhich load units are fed onto-the main conveyer, means independent ofthe main conveyer for operating the branch conveyers and means actuatedseriatim by said first named means for regulating the feeding operationsof the branch conveyers which means includes a movable stop associatedwith each conveyer and mechanism for shifting said stops concomitantlywhereby when one stop is in the functioning position and holds a loadunit stationary the other stop is in the idle position and permits aload unit to advance.

4. A conveyer comprising two aligned load r unit transporting sections,means for operating one of said sections, a movable section interposedbetween the transporting sections, said movable section in one positionbeing in alignment with said first-named sections to receive a load unitfrom one section and, 7

in another position,being out of such alignment todeliver the receivedload unit to the other transporting section, and means actuated by saidmeans formoving said movable section.

5. A conveyercomprising two aligned load unit transporting sections anda movable section interposed between the transporting sections, amovable stop associated with the movable section, means for actuatingthe stop and section so that in one position the movable section is inalignment with said firstnamed sections to receive a load unit from onetransporting section andv the'stop checks the load unit on the movablesection and, in

another-position, the stop is retracted and the movable section is outof such alignment to deliver the received load unit to the othertransporting section, meansfor operating the transporting section towhich the load unit is delivered and connections between said means andsaid stop and section actuating means by which said last named means isoperated.

6. A conveyer comprising two aligned load unit transporting sections anda movable section interposed between the transporting sections,saidmovable section being, in one position, in alignment with saidfirst-named sec.-

tions to receive a load unit from one transporting section and, inanother position, out

transporting section to which the load unit is delivered, and meansactuated by such operating means for movlng said movable section.

7. A conveyer comprising two aligned load unit transporting sections anda movable section interposed between the transporting sections, 'amovable stop associated with the movable section, means for actuatingsaid stop and section whereby the load units delivered by the firsttransporting section are individually stopped and delivered to the othertransporting section a predetermined distance apart, means for operatingthe transporting section to which the'load units are deliveredand'connections between said 7 means and said stop and section actuatingmeans by which said last-named means 1s op erated.

AcnVeyefcmPri$ingtW0 gned load unit transporting sections and a movablesection interposed between the transporting'sec tions, the end of saidmovable section adjilCQllt one transporting sectlon being plvotallymounted andthe other endadjacent the F I other transporting sectionbeing free and means for raising and lowering the free end of themovable section so that in one position it will be in alignment withboth transporting sections to receive load units from the second namedtransporting. section and in another position will be out of suchalignment to stop delivery of the load units thereto and deliver theload units thereon to the first-named transporting section, means forunits are delivered to the main conveyer, and

a movable section which in one position delivers load units tothepositively driven section, means for operating the positively drivensections of the branch conveyers continuously and means actuated by saidmeans for moving the movable sections of the branch conveyers seriatiminto the positions in which load units are delivered to the positivelydriven sections.

10. The combination with a main conveyer of at least two branchconveyers feeding thereto, each branch conveyer including a positivelydriven section by which the load units are delivered to the mainconveyer, and a movable section which in one position delivers loadunits to the positively driven section, said movable section beingadapted to be raised and lowered, means for operating the positivelydriven sections of the branch conveyers continuously and means actuatedby said means for raising and lowering the movable sections of thebranch conveyers seriatim so that each section in turn assumes theposition in which load units are delivered to the positively drivensection of the same branch conveyer.

11. The combination with a main conveyer of at least two branchconveyers feeding thereto, each branch conveyer including a positivelydriven section by which the load units are delivere'dto the mainconveyer, and a movable section which in one position delivers loadunits tothe positively driven section, said movable section beingpivotally mounted and adapted to be raised and low- I ered, means foroperating the positively driven sections of the branch conveyers con-'tinuously and means actuated by said means for raising and lowering themovable sections so that each section in turn assumes the position inwhich load units are delivered to the positively driven section of thesame branch conveyer.

12. The combination with amain conveyer of atleast two branch conveyersfeeding thereto, each branch conveyer including a positively drivensection by which theload units are delivered to the main conveyer, and amovable section which in one position delivers load units to thepositively driven section, said movable section being pivotally mountedat the end adjacent the positively driven section and being adapted tobe raised into and lowered from the position in which it delivers loadunits to the positively driven section, means for operating thepositively driven sections of tliebranch conveyers continuously andmeans actuated by said means for raising and lowering the movablesections seriatim so that each section in turn assumes the position inwhich load units are delivered to the positively driven section of thesame branch conveyer.

Signed by HENRY C. KELLER at Syracuse, N. Y., this 7th day of April,1930 and by MAYNARD VAN BILLIARD at Syracuse, N. Y., this 15th day ofApril, 1930.

HENRY O. KELLER. MAYNARD VAN BILLIARD.

